Alaska Hat in Knit Picks Stroll and Willow Yarns Verbena

February 13, 2019

The Alaska pattern by Camille Descoteaux is one of those infamous patterns on Ravelry. When using a gradient yarn, this beginner-friendly colorwork pattern becomes an absolute stunner. With so many different interpretations reminiscent of sunsets, how could you not fall in love with the Alaska hat? Find the pattern link at the bottom of this post.

I sure fell in love with it. When my brother asked me to re-knit some hats for him, Alaska ended up in my queue as a THIRD hat for him. Am I not the best sister ever?

Selecting Your Yarn

As the pattern called for, I ordered up some Knit Pick’s Stroll in Grizzly Heather. The second yarn called for in the pattern is Knit Pick’s Chroma Fingering. Knit Picks was totally out of the desired color. Even if the color my brother wanted hadn’t been out of stock, I couldn’t have spent another $12 on a single skein of yarn. I got a deal on the Stroll at an affordable $2.99/skein. Where was I going to find a deal on a fingering weight gradient yarn to coordinate?

You may recall my post about discovering Willow Yarns Verbena, an amazing budget gradient yarn available from Herrschners. I recommend Verbena as an acceptable alternative to Chroma, although perhaps in a different colorway. If I knit this hat for myself, I would choose a colorway other than Jovial.

Knitting Your Alaska Hat

The Alaska pattern was only my second colorwork project, and I found it to be very easy to work. The first half of the hat contains very few long floats that need to be worried about. Only as you get to the tops of the trees do you have to start catching them. By that time, you’ve got your coordination down and this extra step is no big deal.

My brother loves the hat and I would highly recommend this pattern as a gift knit that’ll really wow it’s recipient. Alaska works up fast and the sizing is a great average adult size that fit myself, my husband and my brother without a problem.